My Stygian Diary (4) – S.1 – User Article

teasers

In the final, fourth part of my diary, we visit the horror theater of death, wander through hostile areas, end up in a lunatic asylum and escape to other spheres.

In my diary I tell you about my strange experiences in roleplaying Stygian-Reign of the Old Ones. But beware: the entire article is a single spoiler, so if you still want to experience the game for yourself, you should stop reading now.

In the third part I collected all the materials for Fredkin and put them together under his guidance, hoping to finally find a way out of Arkham. And indeed: If I had been willing to live on as a brain in a canister, I would now be traveling through space with the Mi-Gos. Incomprehensibly, however, I declined.

I also traced the remaining leads to the Arkham slasher. Unfortunately, there were some unnecessary casualties along the way and the resolution of the case was more than disappointing. After all, I have now found a new friend in the dreamlands with the dreaming Baroness. Oh yeah, and Miss Carter left my party and was replaced with a traumatized soldier zombie who, while fairly accurate, shoots me in the back every now and then.

Recently I went in search of the Necronomicon. This fabled book is said to reside in Miskatonic University, which is currently only said to be accessible via the cultist-overrun Pilgrim Quarter…

Funny bunch, these cultists.

Me, cultist?

I’ve only just arrived in the Pilgrims’ Quarter when I have to say that non-cultists are treated extremely rudely here. My friends and I seem like the perfect training material for aspiring cultists. In any case, we are attacked by them. And before we can say a word, we’re in a scuffle. Interestingly, they are greatly impressed by our meanwhile not so bad magic abilities, some even go insane at the sight of our magic. Kind!

After brushing the dirt from the fight off our clothes, the boys and I take a closer look at the area. First, we encounter a cultist aggressively promoting the disturbing sights that beckon visitors to the well-guarded “Theatre of Bones.” But: access only for cultists. A few steps further we find a kind of museum – and again the motto is: Access only for cultists. We feel somehow left out. Maybe we should join the cool cult?!

At the east end of town I remember why we are actually here: We wanted to get to Arkham University through the desolate road. Nothing easier than that, right?

Actually I was expecting something…”boring” when entering the desolate alley.

Really dull here!

So here is this ominous desolate alley. I wonder why no one goes through here. So I march off and I’m terribly frightened: there’s literally something in the air here! I think I’m choking! Only a few meters in front of me I discover a corpse with a gas mask. I shouldn’t go for a long walk here without preparation, so I turn on my heel and end up back in the pilgrim quarter.

Surprisingly, the masked henchman of my friend, the dreaming baroness, approaches me and tells me that she would like to see me. Practically, I was just about to escape to dreamland for a bit anyway!

Once in the dreamlands, I chat with Baronessi, as I am (I think) allowed to call her, and she offers to help me with my desolate alley problem. If I bring her the “Tear of a Memory” she will teach me the Dreamwalking spell, which temporarily makes me immune to the Dead Alley. I question that very briefly in my insane mind, tick it off under “don’t care” and thank Baronessi.

Baronessi and I are really good friends!

Me, cultist!

As I search for the tear of a memory, I realize I might have to join the cool cultist club. After all, there are places that have so far remained closed to me. Near the museum, I strike up a conversation with a newly minted cultist. He turns out to be a former physicist and I convince him that physics cannot be reconciled with cosmic horror. He agrees, renounces the cult, and leaves me his cultist robes. The first step to my cultist existence!

Visually indistinguishable from a real cultist, I march to my colleagues at the Knochen-Theater and ask for admission. But that would be too easy! I should kindly show him my mark of purification. Wait a moment! My WHAT?!

Apparently all cultists have a Mark that reveals what human weaknesses they parted from. It is best to have the corresponding symbol branded onto your chest while you are fully conscious. I doubt if I really want to join the cool club… Well, meanwhile it doesn’t matter anymore. But where do I get the mark from? So I’m going to pay my ex-cultist friend Kroogh a visit in central Arkham!

And sure enough, Kroogh knows all about it, and conveniently always has a branding iron handy. I quickly choose a weakness (which I’ve already forgotten) and boom: burn mark on my chest! Interestingly, this also goes through the clothing. Must be magic. I guess I’m a club member now!

Before I make my pilgrimage back to the Pilgrims Quarter, I’ll follow up on a rumor I’ve overheard: there’s said to be incredible things happening on the roof of the Essex Hotel. Certainly a big exaggeration, I think to myself, and walk to the hotel and from there straight to the roof. There I first encounter a guard, but what I discover in the background makes me forget the puny little human immediately.

There is indeed the rock star among the great old ones. Cthulhu himself!

If I wasn’t already insane, I would be now! FHTAGN!

The Theater of Bones

The Guard can’t take the sight of Cthulhu, but fortunately I seem to be far from good and evil already and somehow manage to elude the presence of the Ancient One. Wow!

After this encounter, I now feel really iconic. Or cult? Anyway, I’m going back to the Bone Theater now, show my branding and I’m allowed to enter. And the sight is anything but pretty! The theater turns out to be a large cinema hall full of corpses. A foul battle seems to have taken place here. I take a seat and am transported back in time…

The color disappears from the screen, and may I communicate with the cinema-goers before the accident. Among them I make the acquaintance of a lady who was unhappily in love. I’ll spare you the details. Then the film begins and I watch the spectacle that is now taking place. The cinema audience sees itself on the screen. In the film, people suddenly start fighting – and that is exactly what is happening here in the cinema. So the movie made people kill each other. Creepy, but at least I can collect the petrified tears of a memory from the aforementioned lady. I leave the cinema, let Baronessi put together the magic spell in my dream and then finally set off to cross the desolate street.

Creepy! The cinema audience tear each other apart.